Wally and Others/Marshall 800 2210 opinions wanted

Hey is anyone familar with the dual channel 800?

I always hear about the 2203 and 2204 but never about the 2210.

Wassup wid dat?

Is it coolio? Is it worth $650 with a footswitch?

Astro, I can't personally speak to the 2210's 'worthiness'...Michael Doyle, author of 'The History of Marshall' claims it is his personal favorite of the JCM 800 line up. The 2210 is the evolutionary brother of the 2203. Doyle say..:by the end of their developement the 2210 100-watt head in particular had become one of the all-time great distortion amplifiers."
If that is what you are looking for and it is in good condition, one would think that the price is right.

Astro -- Neve rplayed the 2210, but my first band down here in C'ville, the other guy played a 2205 which is the 50 watter version fo the same amp.

basically the clean channel is worthless. flat and uninspiring. the reverb shouldn;t even be on there as Marshalls and reverb just dont mix IMHO. the DIrt channel is OK. it used diodes ala the later 900 series. and has more gain than the 2204/2203 rigs. but i don't find that the amps cuts very well.

when we were paying together, his rig just couldn;t compete with my Super reverb and Rat box. Now I have seen him lately play out and his tone changes a lot. sometimes its razor sharp ala the Stooges (his fav) and sometimes buzzy and nonexistent. So I think they can be a decent amp with the right setup. But I dont think they have the balls the earlier models have. Of course I never compared it sidebyside to my 2204 cuz I didn;t have it at the time.

Rich on the LPF likes them though better than 2204/2203 models, so its subhjective. he agrees you gotta set them up right.

Wow guys thanks.

It sounds like I should go check it out at least.

Jeff. I sure as heck would. but if you can, take Gamps 900 (which I know you love) with you so you can side by side compare.

I hope it works out. that could be your answer. and by the way, many people say those latter 800s aren;t as road worthy as the older models, but the guy who played the 2205 has had it since it was brand new (late 80s) and did major touring with it and it never had an issue. pretty tough i'd say.

IMO,there is nothing like a godd Marshall amp However, a GOOD Marshall amp is hard to find.
I prefer the 4001 series,they have a great bite to them that nothing else has.
I practice and gig regularly with a Studio 15,if I ever find another one like it,I'll snatch it up quickly.

The Master Volume models are IMO the best amp Marshall ever made.

I've yet to play a dulal channel Marshall that I like,I agree with the above poster that the clean channel is useless.

My setup consists of Vintage Fender amps for Clean tones and the Marshall for CRUNCH.

There are 2 very different versions of the Marshall two chanel amps, even though they look identicle. The early version's schematic is in Aspen Pittmans book and has an excellent clean sound. The later version's schematic is in Doyle's book History of Marshall and has an excellent over the top distorsion side. You can get a good crunch out of both versions. I personally have the early version and I've found it to be a very versatile amp with excellent tone. Do some research and try to play both versions before you make a purchase and before you let someone talk you out of a very good amp before you have even heard it.